Which Baroque painter created the dome fresco of the Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome?

Giovanni Lanfranco created the dome fresco of Rome’s Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle.

Lanfranco painted the great dome fresco, commonly called “The Glory of Paradise,” between 1625 and 1628. The sweeping composition presents the Virgin Mary and heavenly figures in a dynamic, illusionistic arrangement that helped establish the dramatic visual language of the Roman Baroque. Its upward movement and glowing atmosphere were especially influential in the development of Baroque ceiling decoration.

A common mix-up involves Domenichino, another important painter associated with the church. Domenichino painted the Evangelists in the pendentives beneath the dome, while Lanfranco handled the principal dome fresco. Annibale Carracci and Guido Reni were also leading Bolognese-trained painters, but neither created Sant’Andrea della Valle’s dome fresco.